bark collar: Posties hot under the collar over dogs
A DOG owner is barking mad after a post office refused to deliver his letters until he agreed to keep his dogs behind closed doors.
Barry Brame, of Avocet, Letchworth GC, said he was sent a letter telling him that delivery of his post would be stopped until he agreed that his two rottweilers, Lilly and Tallulah, were kept inside during delivery.
Mr Brame, 60, said although his pets were not a threat to the postman's safety he had no choice but to agree with the request.
He said: "He has been our postman for some time now and has never mentioned my dogs being a problem in the past. Each time the postman comes up the drive the dogs are wagging their tails. They don't bark or anything.
"Even after I promised I would keep the dogs inside they still held on to my post for some time.
"It means I have to keep them inside and that could be all morning. Sometimes the postman doesn't come until much later in the day. I fear that if I let them out of the garden and the postman comes round the corner it could all start up again.
"I've done all they asked. I can quite understand postmen worrying about being bitten by dogs, their safety is paramount, but these dogs are no harm to him whatsoever.
"This has all been an over-reaction."
A spokesman from the post office said: "Royal Mail suspends deliveries as a last resort but the health and safety of our workforce has to be a prime concern.
22 June 2006
EDITORIAL - editorial@thecomet.net
Barry Brame, of Avocet, Letchworth GC, said he was sent a letter telling him that delivery of his post would be stopped until he agreed that his two rottweilers, Lilly and Tallulah, were kept inside during delivery.
Mr Brame, 60, said although his pets were not a threat to the postman's safety he had no choice but to agree with the request.
He said: "He has been our postman for some time now and has never mentioned my dogs being a problem in the past. Each time the postman comes up the drive the dogs are wagging their tails. They don't bark or anything.
"Even after I promised I would keep the dogs inside they still held on to my post for some time.
"It means I have to keep them inside and that could be all morning. Sometimes the postman doesn't come until much later in the day. I fear that if I let them out of the garden and the postman comes round the corner it could all start up again.
"I've done all they asked. I can quite understand postmen worrying about being bitten by dogs, their safety is paramount, but these dogs are no harm to him whatsoever.
"This has all been an over-reaction."
A spokesman from the post office said: "Royal Mail suspends deliveries as a last resort but the health and safety of our workforce has to be a prime concern.
22 June 2006
EDITORIAL - editorial@thecomet.net
bark collar: Stop Dog Barking
Dogs bark, what's the problem?
The problem of course, is when your dog won't stop barking and it bothers the neighbors. More often than not, barking can be eliminated or reduced to reasonable levels quickly and easily.
Normal barking
Barking for attention
Make sure your barking dog is being fed properly and has water continually available. Outdoor dogs need shade in the summer and a warm enclosure in the winter. See training your dog to stop barking
Frustration barking
Confined dogs can quickly become frustrated by people on the other side of a fence or beyond the reach of their leash. Sometimes children or neighbors will threaten or yell at a barking dog, which makes things worse. This sort of barking can be corrected by bringing your dog inside or providing a kennel area shielded from view of the sidewalk.
Quick ways to stop barking
Citronella anti bark collar
The new Gentle Spray citronella barking collar is safe, humane and remarkably effective.
When your dog barks, the collar sprays a light mist of citronella scent in front of his nose. Dogs don't like this. The hissing noise startles them and dogs seem to dislike the smell. Most dogs figure things out very quickly and stop barking. University studies have shown that citronella barking collars are twice as effective as shock collars.
We've had excellent success using these collars for barking problems at our animal hospital. We can't guarantee that the Gentle Spray collar will work for your dog, but nearly all our customers use these collars successfully and are very happy with the product. see letter . To find out if the collar is likely to work for your dog, see do not order the collar if
These may or may not be available at your pet store, but you can order the Gentle Spray citronella anti bark collar on line at fuzzytummy.com
Anti barking shock collars
I don't like anti bark shock collars at all. You can't tell if they are working and unless you try the collar out on yourself, something which doesn't appeal to me personally, you can't tell how much it hurts. Besides that, they don't work. Recent university studies found citronella barking collars to be twice as effective as anti bark shock collars.
Debarking surgery
Dogs have a fold of tissue on each side of the larynx which must tighten and vibrate to make a bark. Debarking surgery removes this tissue. After the operation, dogs have only a whispery bark, and most of the time both dogs and owners are quite happy with this. Unfortunately, some or all of the the bark comes back within a few months. Because we know how awful it would be to "debark" a person, many people think the operation is inhumane. Since the surgery is often unsatisfactory and because many people consider it cruel, veterinarians seldom suggest debarking as a solution to barking problems.
copyright by Placerville Veterinary Clinic 1995 . . .2004
The problem of course, is when your dog won't stop barking and it bothers the neighbors. More often than not, barking can be eliminated or reduced to reasonable levels quickly and easily.
Normal barking
Barking for attention
Make sure your barking dog is being fed properly and has water continually available. Outdoor dogs need shade in the summer and a warm enclosure in the winter. See training your dog to stop barking
Frustration barking
Confined dogs can quickly become frustrated by people on the other side of a fence or beyond the reach of their leash. Sometimes children or neighbors will threaten or yell at a barking dog, which makes things worse. This sort of barking can be corrected by bringing your dog inside or providing a kennel area shielded from view of the sidewalk.
Quick ways to stop barking
Citronella anti bark collar
The new Gentle Spray citronella barking collar is safe, humane and remarkably effective.
When your dog barks, the collar sprays a light mist of citronella scent in front of his nose. Dogs don't like this. The hissing noise startles them and dogs seem to dislike the smell. Most dogs figure things out very quickly and stop barking. University studies have shown that citronella barking collars are twice as effective as shock collars.
We've had excellent success using these collars for barking problems at our animal hospital. We can't guarantee that the Gentle Spray collar will work for your dog, but nearly all our customers use these collars successfully and are very happy with the product. see letter . To find out if the collar is likely to work for your dog, see do not order the collar if
These may or may not be available at your pet store, but you can order the Gentle Spray citronella anti bark collar on line at fuzzytummy.com
Anti barking shock collars
I don't like anti bark shock collars at all. You can't tell if they are working and unless you try the collar out on yourself, something which doesn't appeal to me personally, you can't tell how much it hurts. Besides that, they don't work. Recent university studies found citronella barking collars to be twice as effective as anti bark shock collars.
Debarking surgery
Dogs have a fold of tissue on each side of the larynx which must tighten and vibrate to make a bark. Debarking surgery removes this tissue. After the operation, dogs have only a whispery bark, and most of the time both dogs and owners are quite happy with this. Unfortunately, some or all of the the bark comes back within a few months. Because we know how awful it would be to "debark" a person, many people think the operation is inhumane. Since the surgery is often unsatisfactory and because many people consider it cruel, veterinarians seldom suggest debarking as a solution to barking problems.
copyright by Placerville Veterinary Clinic 1995 . . .2004
bark collar: Help for gulf coast trees
At the request of tree groups affected by Hurricane Katrina, AMERICAN FORESTS has launched a Katrina ReLeaf Fund to provide money for local communities to restore their tree canopy when conditions permit.
The effort is being undertaken with a host of local partners from universities and state forestry groups in the affected states; replanting will occur when conditions permit in 2006. Donations made to Katrina ReLeaf (http://www.americanforests.org/planttrees/) will be eligible for federal matching funds. All proceeds from a September promotion with the online auction service eBAY also were directed toward Katrina ReLeaf.
As of press time, groups signed on as partners in Katrina ReLeaf included: U.S. Forest Service, Southeast Region; Southern University, Baton Rouge; Louisiana Forestry Commission; Louisiana Dept. of Forestry and Agriculture; Mississippi Forestry Commission; Alabama Forestry Commission; Alabama Cooperative Extension System; Mississippi Urban Forest Council; Louisiana Urban Forest Council; and Alabama Urban Forest Council.
AMERICAN FORESTS worked extensively with communities in south Florida in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, and lessons learned then can help those now dealing with Katrina, says Nancy Masterson, who served as AMERICAN FORESTS' rep in Florida.
One imporant lesson is that it is possible to save some downed trees. Restoring existing trees will help control stormwater, cool and clean the air, and remove toxins from groundwater, which is important now, especially in New Orleans. Trees also will restore a degree of the familiar to communities attempting to rebound from the disaster.
"We lost many valuable trees in the debris-clearing stage of recovery" after Andrew, Masterson says. "Had they been marked as salvageable, they could have been righted when time permitted." Trees in USDA growing zones 8 and 9 "will show vigor and resilience if they are saved by replanting," rather than allowed to be cut down.
Masterson offered the following tips:
1. Look for blown-down trees that were planted fairly recently and are still partially rooted. Cover as much of the root ball as possible with mulch, leaves, soil, or whatever is at hand. If possible, cover the root ball with burlap, sheets, or old blankets and wet it down; do not use plastic. If long lengths of root are exposed, cut cleanly to reduce water loss.
2. Post a sign--Save This Tree--or surround the tree with marker tape. It should survive until the next rainfall.
3. When residents return to replant, excavate a broad area on the windward side of the fallen tree. Make the hole wider than the width of the root ball and as deep. If you can't pull the tree to an erect position by hand, use a car or truck. When pulling up, protect the trunk with rags or soft material. Backfill the hole with soil and make a ring of dirt around the tree to help hold water.
4. Prune off damaged or broken branches at the branch bark collar, which is the slightly larger portion of the branch where it connects to the trunk. Do not cut inside this collar.
5. Mulch and water, then treat like a newly planted tree for the next three years, giving it frequent inspections and regular watering.
To contribute to AMERICAN FORESTS' Katrina ReLeaf, call 800/368-5748 or log onto our website at: http://www.americanforests.org/planttrees/.
COPYRIGHT 2005 American Forests
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
The effort is being undertaken with a host of local partners from universities and state forestry groups in the affected states; replanting will occur when conditions permit in 2006. Donations made to Katrina ReLeaf (http://www.americanforests.org/planttrees/) will be eligible for federal matching funds. All proceeds from a September promotion with the online auction service eBAY also were directed toward Katrina ReLeaf.
As of press time, groups signed on as partners in Katrina ReLeaf included: U.S. Forest Service, Southeast Region; Southern University, Baton Rouge; Louisiana Forestry Commission; Louisiana Dept. of Forestry and Agriculture; Mississippi Forestry Commission; Alabama Forestry Commission; Alabama Cooperative Extension System; Mississippi Urban Forest Council; Louisiana Urban Forest Council; and Alabama Urban Forest Council.
AMERICAN FORESTS worked extensively with communities in south Florida in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, and lessons learned then can help those now dealing with Katrina, says Nancy Masterson, who served as AMERICAN FORESTS' rep in Florida.
One imporant lesson is that it is possible to save some downed trees. Restoring existing trees will help control stormwater, cool and clean the air, and remove toxins from groundwater, which is important now, especially in New Orleans. Trees also will restore a degree of the familiar to communities attempting to rebound from the disaster.
"We lost many valuable trees in the debris-clearing stage of recovery" after Andrew, Masterson says. "Had they been marked as salvageable, they could have been righted when time permitted." Trees in USDA growing zones 8 and 9 "will show vigor and resilience if they are saved by replanting," rather than allowed to be cut down.
Masterson offered the following tips:
1. Look for blown-down trees that were planted fairly recently and are still partially rooted. Cover as much of the root ball as possible with mulch, leaves, soil, or whatever is at hand. If possible, cover the root ball with burlap, sheets, or old blankets and wet it down; do not use plastic. If long lengths of root are exposed, cut cleanly to reduce water loss.
2. Post a sign--Save This Tree--or surround the tree with marker tape. It should survive until the next rainfall.
3. When residents return to replant, excavate a broad area on the windward side of the fallen tree. Make the hole wider than the width of the root ball and as deep. If you can't pull the tree to an erect position by hand, use a car or truck. When pulling up, protect the trunk with rags or soft material. Backfill the hole with soil and make a ring of dirt around the tree to help hold water.
4. Prune off damaged or broken branches at the branch bark collar, which is the slightly larger portion of the branch where it connects to the trunk. Do not cut inside this collar.
5. Mulch and water, then treat like a newly planted tree for the next three years, giving it frequent inspections and regular watering.
To contribute to AMERICAN FORESTS' Katrina ReLeaf, call 800/368-5748 or log onto our website at: http://www.americanforests.org/planttrees/.
COPYRIGHT 2005 American Forests
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
bark collar: Pupperware events target people whose pets are part of the family
BY LAUREN BISHOP | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
It's a Wednesday evening at Paw's Palace grooming spa in Silverton, and about 16dogs - shelties, standard poodles and golden retrievers - bark, sniff around and play with brightly colored toys scattered on the floor while their owners talk and laugh over the din.
But the owners haven't brought their pets to get primped. They've brought them here so they can browse, try out and maybe buy dozens of pet products, from $5 Ulti-Mutt candy bars to $11-$15 Aromutt Therapy shampoos, spritzers and candles, to $165 pet strollers.
Paw's Palace was the site of a recent Pupperware party, a new twist on a Tupperware party that combines two of Americans' favorite pastimes - shopping at in-home parties and spoiling their pets.
Home parties generate $30 billion in annual sales, according to the Direct Selling Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. And people spent $36.3 billion on their pets in 2005, according to the Greenwich, Conn.-based American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.
"I think it's great. There are so many times you go to a feed store or a pet supply store and you don't get to try things out," 51-year-old Candace Gates of Blanchester says of the Pupperware party.
Gates decides to buy a $12 bottle of orange mango-scented foaming cleanser - the most popular product from Shure Pets, which puts on Pupperware parties - for her dog, Roxie.
"She has a tendency to roll in everything nasty she can find," she says.
An entrepreneur named Andrew Shure founded Shure Pets in 2002 after seeing that people were treating their pets as family members and spending money on them accordingly.
It's important for people with a passion for pets to sell directly to others, Shure says. His company boasts more than 1,200 consultants around the country, a number that's more than doubled since last year, he says.
A Pleasant Hill, Calif.-based company called Petlane shares that philosophy.
Lane Nemeth, who founded the Discovery Toys direct sales company in 1978, started Petlane in 2003. Petlane has 500 advisers across the country - although none yet in Greater Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky - who sell holistic food, toys, books, grooming, health and safety products for dogs, cats and birds at what the company calls Pet Pawties.
"Even if they don't buy a pet product from us, they walk away better parents," says Kimberley Coburn, Petlane's vice president of sales.
Shure Pets has about 10 consultants in Greater Cincinnati, including Gale Wulker, a 46-year-old Blue Ash resident who put on the Pupperware party at Paw's Palace.
Wulker became Shure Pets' 312th consultant in 2004. A stay-at-home mom to two boys and a Boy Scouts volunteer, she did an Internet search for pets while she was looking for a part-time job. That's when Shure Pets popped up.
"I'm not into jewelry or cosmetics or cookware, but pets (are) something I can do," she says.
Wulker sells Shure Pets products in homes and at events about two days each week. About half of the customers who attended the party at Paw's Palace ended up ordering products, she says.
Marilyn Newman, 54, of Silverton buys something at every Pupperware party she attends for her bichon frise, Susi, and no longer buys from pet stores.
She uses Shure Pets' emu oil spray and shampoo that she says leaves Susi's fur free of mats. She's also bought spritzers, a reflective leash and collar and a paw mitt, and she often sports a sweat shirt with a bichon frise embroidered on the front.
It's a Wednesday evening at Paw's Palace grooming spa in Silverton, and about 16dogs - shelties, standard poodles and golden retrievers - bark, sniff around and play with brightly colored toys scattered on the floor while their owners talk and laugh over the din.
But the owners haven't brought their pets to get primped. They've brought them here so they can browse, try out and maybe buy dozens of pet products, from $5 Ulti-Mutt candy bars to $11-$15 Aromutt Therapy shampoos, spritzers and candles, to $165 pet strollers.
Paw's Palace was the site of a recent Pupperware party, a new twist on a Tupperware party that combines two of Americans' favorite pastimes - shopping at in-home parties and spoiling their pets.
Home parties generate $30 billion in annual sales, according to the Direct Selling Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. And people spent $36.3 billion on their pets in 2005, according to the Greenwich, Conn.-based American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.
"I think it's great. There are so many times you go to a feed store or a pet supply store and you don't get to try things out," 51-year-old Candace Gates of Blanchester says of the Pupperware party.
Gates decides to buy a $12 bottle of orange mango-scented foaming cleanser - the most popular product from Shure Pets, which puts on Pupperware parties - for her dog, Roxie.
"She has a tendency to roll in everything nasty she can find," she says.
An entrepreneur named Andrew Shure founded Shure Pets in 2002 after seeing that people were treating their pets as family members and spending money on them accordingly.
It's important for people with a passion for pets to sell directly to others, Shure says. His company boasts more than 1,200 consultants around the country, a number that's more than doubled since last year, he says.
A Pleasant Hill, Calif.-based company called Petlane shares that philosophy.
Lane Nemeth, who founded the Discovery Toys direct sales company in 1978, started Petlane in 2003. Petlane has 500 advisers across the country - although none yet in Greater Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky - who sell holistic food, toys, books, grooming, health and safety products for dogs, cats and birds at what the company calls Pet Pawties.
"Even if they don't buy a pet product from us, they walk away better parents," says Kimberley Coburn, Petlane's vice president of sales.
Shure Pets has about 10 consultants in Greater Cincinnati, including Gale Wulker, a 46-year-old Blue Ash resident who put on the Pupperware party at Paw's Palace.
Wulker became Shure Pets' 312th consultant in 2004. A stay-at-home mom to two boys and a Boy Scouts volunteer, she did an Internet search for pets while she was looking for a part-time job. That's when Shure Pets popped up.
"I'm not into jewelry or cosmetics or cookware, but pets (are) something I can do," she says.
Wulker sells Shure Pets products in homes and at events about two days each week. About half of the customers who attended the party at Paw's Palace ended up ordering products, she says.
Marilyn Newman, 54, of Silverton buys something at every Pupperware party she attends for her bichon frise, Susi, and no longer buys from pet stores.
She uses Shure Pets' emu oil spray and shampoo that she says leaves Susi's fur free of mats. She's also bought spritzers, a reflective leash and collar and a paw mitt, and she often sports a sweat shirt with a bichon frise embroidered on the front.
bark collar: Pupperware events target people whose pets are part of the family
BY LAUREN BISHOP | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
It's a Wednesday evening at Paw's Palace grooming spa in Silverton, and about 16dogs - shelties, standard poodles and golden retrievers - bark, sniff around and play with brightly colored toys scattered on the floor while their owners talk and laugh over the din.
But the owners haven't brought their pets to get primped. They've brought them here so they can browse, try out and maybe buy dozens of pet products, from $5 Ulti-Mutt candy bars to $11-$15 Aromutt Therapy shampoos, spritzers and candles, to $165 pet strollers.
Paw's Palace was the site of a recent Pupperware party, a new twist on a Tupperware party that combines two of Americans' favorite pastimes - shopping at in-home parties and spoiling their pets.
Home parties generate $30 billion in annual sales, according to the Direct Selling Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. And people spent $36.3 billion on their pets in 2005, according to the Greenwich, Conn.-based American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.
"I think it's great. There are so many times you go to a feed store or a pet supply store and you don't get to try things out," 51-year-old Candace Gates of Blanchester says of the Pupperware party.
Gates decides to buy a $12 bottle of orange mango-scented foaming cleanser - the most popular product from Shure Pets, which puts on Pupperware parties - for her dog, Roxie.
"She has a tendency to roll in everything nasty she can find," she says.
An entrepreneur named Andrew Shure founded Shure Pets in 2002 after seeing that people were treating their pets as family members and spending money on them accordingly.
It's important for people with a passion for pets to sell directly to others, Shure says. His company boasts more than 1,200 consultants around the country, a number that's more than doubled since last year, he says.
A Pleasant Hill, Calif.-based company called Petlane shares that philosophy.
Lane Nemeth, who founded the Discovery Toys direct sales company in 1978, started Petlane in 2003. Petlane has 500 advisers across the country - although none yet in Greater Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky - who sell holistic food, toys, books, grooming, health and safety products for dogs, cats and birds at what the company calls Pet Pawties.
"Even if they don't buy a pet product from us, they walk away better parents," says Kimberley Coburn, Petlane's vice president of sales.
Shure Pets has about 10 consultants in Greater Cincinnati, including Gale Wulker, a 46-year-old Blue Ash resident who put on the Pupperware party at Paw's Palace.
Wulker became Shure Pets' 312th consultant in 2004. A stay-at-home mom to two boys and a Boy Scouts volunteer, she did an Internet search for pets while she was looking for a part-time job. That's when Shure Pets popped up.
"I'm not into jewelry or cosmetics or cookware, but pets (are) something I can do," she says.
Wulker sells Shure Pets products in homes and at events about two days each week. About half of the customers who attended the party at Paw's Palace ended up ordering products, she says.
Marilyn Newman, 54, of Silverton buys something at every Pupperware party she attends for her bichon frise, Susi, and no longer buys from pet stores.
She uses Shure Pets' emu oil spray and shampoo that she says leaves Susi's fur free of mats. She's also bought spritzers, a reflective leash and collar and a paw mitt, and she often sports a sweat shirt with a bichon frise embroidered on the front.
It's a Wednesday evening at Paw's Palace grooming spa in Silverton, and about 16dogs - shelties, standard poodles and golden retrievers - bark, sniff around and play with brightly colored toys scattered on the floor while their owners talk and laugh over the din.
But the owners haven't brought their pets to get primped. They've brought them here so they can browse, try out and maybe buy dozens of pet products, from $5 Ulti-Mutt candy bars to $11-$15 Aromutt Therapy shampoos, spritzers and candles, to $165 pet strollers.
Paw's Palace was the site of a recent Pupperware party, a new twist on a Tupperware party that combines two of Americans' favorite pastimes - shopping at in-home parties and spoiling their pets.
Home parties generate $30 billion in annual sales, according to the Direct Selling Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. And people spent $36.3 billion on their pets in 2005, according to the Greenwich, Conn.-based American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.
"I think it's great. There are so many times you go to a feed store or a pet supply store and you don't get to try things out," 51-year-old Candace Gates of Blanchester says of the Pupperware party.
Gates decides to buy a $12 bottle of orange mango-scented foaming cleanser - the most popular product from Shure Pets, which puts on Pupperware parties - for her dog, Roxie.
"She has a tendency to roll in everything nasty she can find," she says.
An entrepreneur named Andrew Shure founded Shure Pets in 2002 after seeing that people were treating their pets as family members and spending money on them accordingly.
It's important for people with a passion for pets to sell directly to others, Shure says. His company boasts more than 1,200 consultants around the country, a number that's more than doubled since last year, he says.
A Pleasant Hill, Calif.-based company called Petlane shares that philosophy.
Lane Nemeth, who founded the Discovery Toys direct sales company in 1978, started Petlane in 2003. Petlane has 500 advisers across the country - although none yet in Greater Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky - who sell holistic food, toys, books, grooming, health and safety products for dogs, cats and birds at what the company calls Pet Pawties.
"Even if they don't buy a pet product from us, they walk away better parents," says Kimberley Coburn, Petlane's vice president of sales.
Shure Pets has about 10 consultants in Greater Cincinnati, including Gale Wulker, a 46-year-old Blue Ash resident who put on the Pupperware party at Paw's Palace.
Wulker became Shure Pets' 312th consultant in 2004. A stay-at-home mom to two boys and a Boy Scouts volunteer, she did an Internet search for pets while she was looking for a part-time job. That's when Shure Pets popped up.
"I'm not into jewelry or cosmetics or cookware, but pets (are) something I can do," she says.
Wulker sells Shure Pets products in homes and at events about two days each week. About half of the customers who attended the party at Paw's Palace ended up ordering products, she says.
Marilyn Newman, 54, of Silverton buys something at every Pupperware party she attends for her bichon frise, Susi, and no longer buys from pet stores.
She uses Shure Pets' emu oil spray and shampoo that she says leaves Susi's fur free of mats. She's also bought spritzers, a reflective leash and collar and a paw mitt, and she often sports a sweat shirt with a bichon frise embroidered on the front.
bark collar: Cool competition for hot dogs
BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer
June 1, 2006
If Labrador retrievers kept datebooks, and 7-year-old Rock had his way, every entry would look something like this:
Run. Jump. Splash. Grab. Exit. Shake. Again.
True to his breed's retriever roots, this black Lab from Freeport lives to fetch, especially from the water. While channel-surfing a couple of years ago, his owner Barbara Radtke lit on ESPN and was mesmerized by images of dogs flinging themselves like coiled springs off an elevated dock and into a waiting pool of water. Soon, she began entering Rock in this aquatic broad jump for four-leggers, traveling to Arkansas, Florida, even California so he could take a flying leap after his beloved foam mallard.
"He'll go for anything that floats," says a beaming Radtke as Rock demonstrates his "woo-woo shuffle": This impatient whine-bark coupled with scooting back as he waits for his duck to become airborne has become Rock's trademark at dock-diving competitions. "They say he has a New York attitude."
Big Air in Freeport
Radtke wanted nothing more than to have Rock in his watery element right here on Long Island, where the suburban concentration of surf-obsessed Labs makes dock diving a no-brainer. So she organized an event of her own: Tomorrow through Sunday at the Freeport Nautical Festival, the Rock Classic 2006 will introduce metro-area mutts to two water sports: the distance-based Big Air, where dogs jump off a 40-foot turf-covered dock into a 50-foot portable pool to retrieve a favorite toy tossed in by the handler; as well as the relatively new height-based Extreme Vertical, where dogs leap for a fixed bar suspended at varying heights 8 feet from the dock's edge.
In the popular Big Air competition, where pure distance determines the victors, "the throw's important - sometimes it's more important than how good the dog actually is," says Radtke, tossing the battered duck, his foam chest pitted with use, into her backyard swimming pool for the umpteenth time. Rock barrels by, a blur of black fur and orange neon collar.
Jump. Splash. Grab. Exit. Shake.
Created in 1999 to satisfy ESPN's need to fill some empty programming time, dock diving is one of the continent's fastest growing dog sports. Though there are several different organizations sanctioning these events, DockDogs, which is sponsoring Radtke's event, is the largest, holding events in both the states and Canada. The Medina, Ohio-based group has 13 affiliated clubs, with new ones coming aboard at an average of one a month. And events are growing exponentially, from four events the year of its inception to 100-plus in 2006, with more than 4,000 registered participants. Next stop: Europe.
Mutts welcome
The key to dock diving's success is that it is egalitarian - no papers or pedigrees required. Also, unlike agility, another canine sport made popular on cable channels such as Animal Planet, it requires no training.
"Anybody can do it - any dog, any size, any breed, any person," says Grant Reeves, chief operating officer of DockDogs. "There's no 'right' dog. Basically all you need is a handler, a dog that likes to swim and a toy."
That's not to say there aren't hard-core competitors who fret over their Chessie's trajectory and weep over every inch of shortfall. They travel the country vying for titles - which range from the ground-floor Novice to the apex, Elite - and even snag corporate sponsors.
Kevin Meese of Fredericktown, Pa., tried dock diving on a whim. Today, his greyhound mix, 5-year-old Country - whom Meese got for free at a coondog field trial, where he came in dead last - has his own web site, www.nothinlikecoun tryair.com, and a DogDocks Big Air world record of 28 feet, 10 inches.
"I saw [dock diving] on TV, and I said, 'Country can do that,'" recalls Meese, who spent two years teaching his water-averse dog to swim. Though he knew Country was a natural jumper, "this was a running dog that had been in a kennel all his life and never fetched anything." As incentive, Meese started off by tying little pieces of deer meat to a floating bumper.
Country, who will be competing at the Freeport event, eventually mastered fetching, but "sit" and "stay" are another story. So at DockDog events, Meese has to first toss the bumper in the water, walk Country to the end of the 40-foot dock, lift him so he can see his target, and then let him go.
While DockDogs is popular among the usual hydrocentric suspects - Labs, Goldens and Chesapeake Bay retrievers - Reeves says the last few months have seen a huge influx of border collies, "and they're coming on strong." (In an effort to woo toy breeds, the organization has added a Lap Dog class, though smaller doesn't always mean less distance, especially when you're talking about those mosquitoes trapped in dog suits also known as Jack Russells: One jumped 22 feet, 10 inches.)
"In the next three years, you are going to see breeding for speed down the dock and ability to leap," Reeves adds. As in agility, where crosses between Jack Russells and border collies make for killer competitors, Labrador/border collie hybrids are just starting to materialize in the DockDogs world. And as Extreme Vertical begins to gain ground as a sport, competitors will have to make a decision about whether their priority is a dog that jumps up - or out.
As for Rock, who will be kicking off each day's competition at his eponymous event this weekend with a couple of jumps, he's approaching the sunset years of his career. He turns 8 soon and will be eligible to compete in the veteran class.
But, unlike the humans involved in this curiously engaging and addictive sport, he could care less about what category he's in.
"The duck's going to sleep now," says Radtke pointedly, heading to the garage to hide the battered waterfowl.
And with an earnest woo-woo and a shuffle, Rock bolts after her, ever hopeful he can change her mind.
Rock Classic 2006
Long Island's first-ever dock-diving event, the Rock Classic 2006, takes place tomorrow through Sunday during the Freeport Nautical Festival on Woodcleft Avenue's Nautical Mile. Splish-splashers should head to E.B. Elliot's Restaurant & Bar at 23 Woodcleft Ave.
Teams and competitors are expected from all over North America, but local dogs can take the plunge by registering at the event, space permitting. There will also be opportunities for practice jumps.
Canine competitors must be at least 6 months old, and their handlers must be at least 7 years of age. No female dogs in heat.
For more information about this event, call 516-379-6490 or send e-mail to rockrad1@aol.com.
Newsday Staff Writer
June 1, 2006
If Labrador retrievers kept datebooks, and 7-year-old Rock had his way, every entry would look something like this:
Run. Jump. Splash. Grab. Exit. Shake. Again.
True to his breed's retriever roots, this black Lab from Freeport lives to fetch, especially from the water. While channel-surfing a couple of years ago, his owner Barbara Radtke lit on ESPN and was mesmerized by images of dogs flinging themselves like coiled springs off an elevated dock and into a waiting pool of water. Soon, she began entering Rock in this aquatic broad jump for four-leggers, traveling to Arkansas, Florida, even California so he could take a flying leap after his beloved foam mallard.
"He'll go for anything that floats," says a beaming Radtke as Rock demonstrates his "woo-woo shuffle": This impatient whine-bark coupled with scooting back as he waits for his duck to become airborne has become Rock's trademark at dock-diving competitions. "They say he has a New York attitude."
Big Air in Freeport
Radtke wanted nothing more than to have Rock in his watery element right here on Long Island, where the suburban concentration of surf-obsessed Labs makes dock diving a no-brainer. So she organized an event of her own: Tomorrow through Sunday at the Freeport Nautical Festival, the Rock Classic 2006 will introduce metro-area mutts to two water sports: the distance-based Big Air, where dogs jump off a 40-foot turf-covered dock into a 50-foot portable pool to retrieve a favorite toy tossed in by the handler; as well as the relatively new height-based Extreme Vertical, where dogs leap for a fixed bar suspended at varying heights 8 feet from the dock's edge.
In the popular Big Air competition, where pure distance determines the victors, "the throw's important - sometimes it's more important than how good the dog actually is," says Radtke, tossing the battered duck, his foam chest pitted with use, into her backyard swimming pool for the umpteenth time. Rock barrels by, a blur of black fur and orange neon collar.
Jump. Splash. Grab. Exit. Shake.
Created in 1999 to satisfy ESPN's need to fill some empty programming time, dock diving is one of the continent's fastest growing dog sports. Though there are several different organizations sanctioning these events, DockDogs, which is sponsoring Radtke's event, is the largest, holding events in both the states and Canada. The Medina, Ohio-based group has 13 affiliated clubs, with new ones coming aboard at an average of one a month. And events are growing exponentially, from four events the year of its inception to 100-plus in 2006, with more than 4,000 registered participants. Next stop: Europe.
Mutts welcome
The key to dock diving's success is that it is egalitarian - no papers or pedigrees required. Also, unlike agility, another canine sport made popular on cable channels such as Animal Planet, it requires no training.
"Anybody can do it - any dog, any size, any breed, any person," says Grant Reeves, chief operating officer of DockDogs. "There's no 'right' dog. Basically all you need is a handler, a dog that likes to swim and a toy."
That's not to say there aren't hard-core competitors who fret over their Chessie's trajectory and weep over every inch of shortfall. They travel the country vying for titles - which range from the ground-floor Novice to the apex, Elite - and even snag corporate sponsors.
Kevin Meese of Fredericktown, Pa., tried dock diving on a whim. Today, his greyhound mix, 5-year-old Country - whom Meese got for free at a coondog field trial, where he came in dead last - has his own web site, www.nothinlikecoun tryair.com, and a DogDocks Big Air world record of 28 feet, 10 inches.
"I saw [dock diving] on TV, and I said, 'Country can do that,'" recalls Meese, who spent two years teaching his water-averse dog to swim. Though he knew Country was a natural jumper, "this was a running dog that had been in a kennel all his life and never fetched anything." As incentive, Meese started off by tying little pieces of deer meat to a floating bumper.
Country, who will be competing at the Freeport event, eventually mastered fetching, but "sit" and "stay" are another story. So at DockDog events, Meese has to first toss the bumper in the water, walk Country to the end of the 40-foot dock, lift him so he can see his target, and then let him go.
While DockDogs is popular among the usual hydrocentric suspects - Labs, Goldens and Chesapeake Bay retrievers - Reeves says the last few months have seen a huge influx of border collies, "and they're coming on strong." (In an effort to woo toy breeds, the organization has added a Lap Dog class, though smaller doesn't always mean less distance, especially when you're talking about those mosquitoes trapped in dog suits also known as Jack Russells: One jumped 22 feet, 10 inches.)
"In the next three years, you are going to see breeding for speed down the dock and ability to leap," Reeves adds. As in agility, where crosses between Jack Russells and border collies make for killer competitors, Labrador/border collie hybrids are just starting to materialize in the DockDogs world. And as Extreme Vertical begins to gain ground as a sport, competitors will have to make a decision about whether their priority is a dog that jumps up - or out.
As for Rock, who will be kicking off each day's competition at his eponymous event this weekend with a couple of jumps, he's approaching the sunset years of his career. He turns 8 soon and will be eligible to compete in the veteran class.
But, unlike the humans involved in this curiously engaging and addictive sport, he could care less about what category he's in.
"The duck's going to sleep now," says Radtke pointedly, heading to the garage to hide the battered waterfowl.
And with an earnest woo-woo and a shuffle, Rock bolts after her, ever hopeful he can change her mind.
Rock Classic 2006
Long Island's first-ever dock-diving event, the Rock Classic 2006, takes place tomorrow through Sunday during the Freeport Nautical Festival on Woodcleft Avenue's Nautical Mile. Splish-splashers should head to E.B. Elliot's Restaurant & Bar at 23 Woodcleft Ave.
Teams and competitors are expected from all over North America, but local dogs can take the plunge by registering at the event, space permitting. There will also be opportunities for practice jumps.
Canine competitors must be at least 6 months old, and their handlers must be at least 7 years of age. No female dogs in heat.
For more information about this event, call 516-379-6490 or send e-mail to rockrad1@aol.com.
bark collar: U.S. Air Force Shifts Mindset To Counter New Threats In Iraq And Afghanistan
Robert Riggs
Reporting
(CBS 11 News) LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, SAN ANTONIO Bursts of machine-gun fire and mortar explosions erupt as a mock U.S. Air Force base comes under attack by insurgents. Future airmen take up defensive positions. A steel-jawed training instructor draws a bead on a trainee who hesitates. The instructor comes nose-to-nose with the trainee and shoots point blank with a verbal barrage, "Do you have a death wish? Then fire back!"
The training scenario playing out at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas marks one of the biggest cultural shifts in the service's fifty-nine year history. The Air Force overhauled its six and one-half week basic military training course to instill a "warrior spirit" worthy of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who fought heroically a few miles north of here at the Alamo. Colonel Gina Grosso, commander of the 737th Training Group, started instituting the changes last November, "I think no airmen can take for granted who is going to go into harm's way. In the global war on terror you don't know who the enemy is, you don't know where they are going to be."
Insurgent tactics and strained Army manpower in Iraq and Afghanistan brought about the changes. Pilots and their rescuers used to be the only Air Force personnel that faced combat. Airmen grew accustomed to clean sheets and hot meals far removed from the battle at rear air bases. Now, more than five thousand airmen drive convoys and conduct patrols outside their air bases. "There's no longer a huge force between us and the bad guys. Our airmen were encountering missions that they were not really prepared for. They just didn't have the comfort and familiarity with the M-16.", says Chief Master Sergeant Steve Sargent, who is the Superintendent of Basic Training.
The M-16 is my best friend
The first weeks of training used to be heavy on the history of air power and the proper way to fold socks, shirts, and shorts. Trainees didn't touch a rifle until the fifth week. Now, the Air Force issues a newly designed M16A2 rifle trainer on the first day of training. Nineteen-year-old Laura Olson of Knoxville, Tennessee, who plans to be a nurse, realizes that she may likely practice at a forward operating base under fire. "I think it's probably good experience at least to get use to it and be comfortable with it before they get out on the front lines," Olson explains. The trainer rifle is identical to the real one in every aspect except that it can't be fired. Air Force blue colored paint on the rifle's stock and hand guards signify that it is a trainer. Trainees practice until they can break it down within two minutes and reassemble the rifle just as quickly. There is a proposal to add 9mm handgun training to the course.
Field Training
The fourth week of training moves from air-conditioned dorms to tents, turned into ovens by the merciless Texas' heat. Many of the trainees have never slept outdoors. They face the wrath of fire ants, wasps, rattlesnakes, and training instructors barking orders at decibel rattling levels.
Barrel-chested Master Sergeant Robert Hembree hovers over trainees as they belly crawl like alligators for two-hundred yards beneath simulated gun fire and razor wire. Hembree is the picture of perfection in neatly pressed and creased fatigues, spit polished combat boots, a Smokey-the-Bear style campaign hat shading his eyes, and not a single bead of sweat in sight. He towers over grunting and groaning trainees, their faces caked with sand and sweat. Some are harshly reminded not to stick the muzzle in the sand and not to point the M-16 at their buddy or "wingman" crawling beside them. Hembree pounces when a trainee falls back, "Don't quit" No pain! No pain! Don't forget your wingman!" A trainee grabs the straggler by the back of his collar and begins dragging him forward. "A lot of the stuff we do focuses on leadership abilities and teamwork. You've got to have the team work where somebody falls, the other one has to pick it up. You have to be able to recover and help your teammate. Leave no man behind," says Hembree.
The new basic training prepares airmen for the realities of an Air Expeditionary Force by sending a message that you are either deployed or preparing to deploy. Trainees saddled with sixty-pound duffel bags go through a mock mobility line. Training instructors bark out the list of required contents such as the prescribed three pairs of wool socks. When a trainee fumbles his bag because of missing items an instructor strikes, "Stop! Stop! You are not having a very good day! You think and then you do! Understand? Fix it!" The drills are meant to put the trainees under stress in a controlled situation.
The trainees watch a videotaped deployment briefing that tells them about their upcoming mission; they board buses; get issued combat gear, M-16s, MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), just as if they were headed overseas. Twenty-year old trainee Erica Grotty of Portland who is the mother of a fifteen-month-old daughter says, "It was very frightening at first, the idea that I would most likely be deployed. But every day that I'm here I'm learning so many skills. It's just making me feel a lot more comfortable about going and having the confidence that when I come back I will walk off that plane."
The Air Force plans to add two weeks to its basic military training by October 2007. It would allow more time for warrior skills and to teach battlefield first aid. It's waiting on Congress to approve twenty-five million dollars for more facilities, including firing ranges.
On another corner of the sprawling base, seven hundred trainees in dress uniforms smartly march in formation for their coining ceremony. The ceremony marks the transition from trainee to airmen. Senior Master Sergeant Larry Hetrick, a twenty-two-year veteran and training instructor, proudly presents a coin to his twenty-one-year-old son Albert. The core values of the Air Force are cast on the coin: integrity first; service before self'; and excellence in all we do. Colonel Grasso stresses to new trainees on the first day that the profession of arms must live by those core values
Back in the field, trainees take a brief break from combat training that started before dawn. With machine-gun speed, Staff Sergeant Jason Bowman rattles off challenges to his trainees, "You're tired right now! You're feeling it right now! Now that you are out of breath! Now that you are hot! Now that you are sweaty! Now that you are tired! Can you do it now?" The trainees shout their reply in unison, "Yes sir!” Their response exemplifies the warrior spirit that the Air Force expects to help keep its airmen alive on the frontlines.
(CBS 11 News)
Reporting
(CBS 11 News) LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, SAN ANTONIO Bursts of machine-gun fire and mortar explosions erupt as a mock U.S. Air Force base comes under attack by insurgents. Future airmen take up defensive positions. A steel-jawed training instructor draws a bead on a trainee who hesitates. The instructor comes nose-to-nose with the trainee and shoots point blank with a verbal barrage, "Do you have a death wish? Then fire back!"
The training scenario playing out at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas marks one of the biggest cultural shifts in the service's fifty-nine year history. The Air Force overhauled its six and one-half week basic military training course to instill a "warrior spirit" worthy of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who fought heroically a few miles north of here at the Alamo. Colonel Gina Grosso, commander of the 737th Training Group, started instituting the changes last November, "I think no airmen can take for granted who is going to go into harm's way. In the global war on terror you don't know who the enemy is, you don't know where they are going to be."
Insurgent tactics and strained Army manpower in Iraq and Afghanistan brought about the changes. Pilots and their rescuers used to be the only Air Force personnel that faced combat. Airmen grew accustomed to clean sheets and hot meals far removed from the battle at rear air bases. Now, more than five thousand airmen drive convoys and conduct patrols outside their air bases. "There's no longer a huge force between us and the bad guys. Our airmen were encountering missions that they were not really prepared for. They just didn't have the comfort and familiarity with the M-16.", says Chief Master Sergeant Steve Sargent, who is the Superintendent of Basic Training.
The M-16 is my best friend
The first weeks of training used to be heavy on the history of air power and the proper way to fold socks, shirts, and shorts. Trainees didn't touch a rifle until the fifth week. Now, the Air Force issues a newly designed M16A2 rifle trainer on the first day of training. Nineteen-year-old Laura Olson of Knoxville, Tennessee, who plans to be a nurse, realizes that she may likely practice at a forward operating base under fire. "I think it's probably good experience at least to get use to it and be comfortable with it before they get out on the front lines," Olson explains. The trainer rifle is identical to the real one in every aspect except that it can't be fired. Air Force blue colored paint on the rifle's stock and hand guards signify that it is a trainer. Trainees practice until they can break it down within two minutes and reassemble the rifle just as quickly. There is a proposal to add 9mm handgun training to the course.
Field Training
The fourth week of training moves from air-conditioned dorms to tents, turned into ovens by the merciless Texas' heat. Many of the trainees have never slept outdoors. They face the wrath of fire ants, wasps, rattlesnakes, and training instructors barking orders at decibel rattling levels.
Barrel-chested Master Sergeant Robert Hembree hovers over trainees as they belly crawl like alligators for two-hundred yards beneath simulated gun fire and razor wire. Hembree is the picture of perfection in neatly pressed and creased fatigues, spit polished combat boots, a Smokey-the-Bear style campaign hat shading his eyes, and not a single bead of sweat in sight. He towers over grunting and groaning trainees, their faces caked with sand and sweat. Some are harshly reminded not to stick the muzzle in the sand and not to point the M-16 at their buddy or "wingman" crawling beside them. Hembree pounces when a trainee falls back, "Don't quit" No pain! No pain! Don't forget your wingman!" A trainee grabs the straggler by the back of his collar and begins dragging him forward. "A lot of the stuff we do focuses on leadership abilities and teamwork. You've got to have the team work where somebody falls, the other one has to pick it up. You have to be able to recover and help your teammate. Leave no man behind," says Hembree.
The new basic training prepares airmen for the realities of an Air Expeditionary Force by sending a message that you are either deployed or preparing to deploy. Trainees saddled with sixty-pound duffel bags go through a mock mobility line. Training instructors bark out the list of required contents such as the prescribed three pairs of wool socks. When a trainee fumbles his bag because of missing items an instructor strikes, "Stop! Stop! You are not having a very good day! You think and then you do! Understand? Fix it!" The drills are meant to put the trainees under stress in a controlled situation.
The trainees watch a videotaped deployment briefing that tells them about their upcoming mission; they board buses; get issued combat gear, M-16s, MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), just as if they were headed overseas. Twenty-year old trainee Erica Grotty of Portland who is the mother of a fifteen-month-old daughter says, "It was very frightening at first, the idea that I would most likely be deployed. But every day that I'm here I'm learning so many skills. It's just making me feel a lot more comfortable about going and having the confidence that when I come back I will walk off that plane."
The Air Force plans to add two weeks to its basic military training by October 2007. It would allow more time for warrior skills and to teach battlefield first aid. It's waiting on Congress to approve twenty-five million dollars for more facilities, including firing ranges.
On another corner of the sprawling base, seven hundred trainees in dress uniforms smartly march in formation for their coining ceremony. The ceremony marks the transition from trainee to airmen. Senior Master Sergeant Larry Hetrick, a twenty-two-year veteran and training instructor, proudly presents a coin to his twenty-one-year-old son Albert. The core values of the Air Force are cast on the coin: integrity first; service before self'; and excellence in all we do. Colonel Grasso stresses to new trainees on the first day that the profession of arms must live by those core values
Back in the field, trainees take a brief break from combat training that started before dawn. With machine-gun speed, Staff Sergeant Jason Bowman rattles off challenges to his trainees, "You're tired right now! You're feeling it right now! Now that you are out of breath! Now that you are hot! Now that you are sweaty! Now that you are tired! Can you do it now?" The trainees shout their reply in unison, "Yes sir!” Their response exemplifies the warrior spirit that the Air Force expects to help keep its airmen alive on the frontlines.
(CBS 11 News)
bark collar: U.S. Air Force Shifts Mindset To Counter New Threats In Iraq And Afghanistan
Robert Riggs
Reporting
(CBS 11 News) LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, SAN ANTONIO Bursts of machine-gun fire and mortar explosions erupt as a mock U.S. Air Force base comes under attack by insurgents. Future airmen take up defensive positions. A steel-jawed training instructor draws a bead on a trainee who hesitates. The instructor comes nose-to-nose with the trainee and shoots point blank with a verbal barrage, "Do you have a death wish? Then fire back!"
The training scenario playing out at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas marks one of the biggest cultural shifts in the service's fifty-nine year history. The Air Force overhauled its six and one-half week basic military training course to instill a "warrior spirit" worthy of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who fought heroically a few miles north of here at the Alamo. Colonel Gina Grosso, commander of the 737th Training Group, started instituting the changes last November, "I think no airmen can take for granted who is going to go into harm's way. In the global war on terror you don't know who the enemy is, you don't know where they are going to be."
Insurgent tactics and strained Army manpower in Iraq and Afghanistan brought about the changes. Pilots and their rescuers used to be the only Air Force personnel that faced combat. Airmen grew accustomed to clean sheets and hot meals far removed from the battle at rear air bases. Now, more than five thousand airmen drive convoys and conduct patrols outside their air bases. "There's no longer a huge force between us and the bad guys. Our airmen were encountering missions that they were not really prepared for. They just didn't have the comfort and familiarity with the M-16.", says Chief Master Sergeant Steve Sargent, who is the Superintendent of Basic Training.
The M-16 is my best friend
The first weeks of training used to be heavy on the history of air power and the proper way to fold socks, shirts, and shorts. Trainees didn't touch a rifle until the fifth week. Now, the Air Force issues a newly designed M16A2 rifle trainer on the first day of training. Nineteen-year-old Laura Olson of Knoxville, Tennessee, who plans to be a nurse, realizes that she may likely practice at a forward operating base under fire. "I think it's probably good experience at least to get use to it and be comfortable with it before they get out on the front lines," Olson explains. The trainer rifle is identical to the real one in every aspect except that it can't be fired. Air Force blue colored paint on the rifle's stock and hand guards signify that it is a trainer. Trainees practice until they can break it down within two minutes and reassemble the rifle just as quickly. There is a proposal to add 9mm handgun training to the course.
Field Training
The fourth week of training moves from air-conditioned dorms to tents, turned into ovens by the merciless Texas' heat. Many of the trainees have never slept outdoors. They face the wrath of fire ants, wasps, rattlesnakes, and training instructors barking orders at decibel rattling levels.
Barrel-chested Master Sergeant Robert Hembree hovers over trainees as they belly crawl like alligators for two-hundred yards beneath simulated gun fire and razor wire. Hembree is the picture of perfection in neatly pressed and creased fatigues, spit polished combat boots, a Smokey-the-Bear style campaign hat shading his eyes, and not a single bead of sweat in sight. He towers over grunting and groaning trainees, their faces caked with sand and sweat. Some are harshly reminded not to stick the muzzle in the sand and not to point the M-16 at their buddy or "wingman" crawling beside them. Hembree pounces when a trainee falls back, "Don't quit" No pain! No pain! Don't forget your wingman!" A trainee grabs the straggler by the back of his collar and begins dragging him forward. "A lot of the stuff we do focuses on leadership abilities and teamwork. You've got to have the team work where somebody falls, the other one has to pick it up. You have to be able to recover and help your teammate. Leave no man behind," says Hembree.
The new basic training prepares airmen for the realities of an Air Expeditionary Force by sending a message that you are either deployed or preparing to deploy. Trainees saddled with sixty-pound duffel bags go through a mock mobility line. Training instructors bark out the list of required contents such as the prescribed three pairs of wool socks. When a trainee fumbles his bag because of missing items an instructor strikes, "Stop! Stop! You are not having a very good day! You think and then you do! Understand? Fix it!" The drills are meant to put the trainees under stress in a controlled situation.
The trainees watch a videotaped deployment briefing that tells them about their upcoming mission; they board buses; get issued combat gear, M-16s, MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), just as if they were headed overseas. Twenty-year old trainee Erica Grotty of Portland who is the mother of a fifteen-month-old daughter says, "It was very frightening at first, the idea that I would most likely be deployed. But every day that I'm here I'm learning so many skills. It's just making me feel a lot more comfortable about going and having the confidence that when I come back I will walk off that plane."
The Air Force plans to add two weeks to its basic military training by October 2007. It would allow more time for warrior skills and to teach battlefield first aid. It's waiting on Congress to approve twenty-five million dollars for more facilities, including firing ranges.
On another corner of the sprawling base, seven hundred trainees in dress uniforms smartly march in formation for their coining ceremony. The ceremony marks the transition from trainee to airmen. Senior Master Sergeant Larry Hetrick, a twenty-two-year veteran and training instructor, proudly presents a coin to his twenty-one-year-old son Albert. The core values of the Air Force are cast on the coin: integrity first; service before self'; and excellence in all we do. Colonel Grasso stresses to new trainees on the first day that the profession of arms must live by those core values
Back in the field, trainees take a brief break from combat training that started before dawn. With machine-gun speed, Staff Sergeant Jason Bowman rattles off challenges to his trainees, "You're tired right now! You're feeling it right now! Now that you are out of breath! Now that you are hot! Now that you are sweaty! Now that you are tired! Can you do it now?" The trainees shout their reply in unison, "Yes sir!” Their response exemplifies the warrior spirit that the Air Force expects to help keep its airmen alive on the frontlines.
(CBS 11 News)
Reporting
(CBS 11 News) LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, SAN ANTONIO Bursts of machine-gun fire and mortar explosions erupt as a mock U.S. Air Force base comes under attack by insurgents. Future airmen take up defensive positions. A steel-jawed training instructor draws a bead on a trainee who hesitates. The instructor comes nose-to-nose with the trainee and shoots point blank with a verbal barrage, "Do you have a death wish? Then fire back!"
The training scenario playing out at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas marks one of the biggest cultural shifts in the service's fifty-nine year history. The Air Force overhauled its six and one-half week basic military training course to instill a "warrior spirit" worthy of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who fought heroically a few miles north of here at the Alamo. Colonel Gina Grosso, commander of the 737th Training Group, started instituting the changes last November, "I think no airmen can take for granted who is going to go into harm's way. In the global war on terror you don't know who the enemy is, you don't know where they are going to be."
Insurgent tactics and strained Army manpower in Iraq and Afghanistan brought about the changes. Pilots and their rescuers used to be the only Air Force personnel that faced combat. Airmen grew accustomed to clean sheets and hot meals far removed from the battle at rear air bases. Now, more than five thousand airmen drive convoys and conduct patrols outside their air bases. "There's no longer a huge force between us and the bad guys. Our airmen were encountering missions that they were not really prepared for. They just didn't have the comfort and familiarity with the M-16.", says Chief Master Sergeant Steve Sargent, who is the Superintendent of Basic Training.
The M-16 is my best friend
The first weeks of training used to be heavy on the history of air power and the proper way to fold socks, shirts, and shorts. Trainees didn't touch a rifle until the fifth week. Now, the Air Force issues a newly designed M16A2 rifle trainer on the first day of training. Nineteen-year-old Laura Olson of Knoxville, Tennessee, who plans to be a nurse, realizes that she may likely practice at a forward operating base under fire. "I think it's probably good experience at least to get use to it and be comfortable with it before they get out on the front lines," Olson explains. The trainer rifle is identical to the real one in every aspect except that it can't be fired. Air Force blue colored paint on the rifle's stock and hand guards signify that it is a trainer. Trainees practice until they can break it down within two minutes and reassemble the rifle just as quickly. There is a proposal to add 9mm handgun training to the course.
Field Training
The fourth week of training moves from air-conditioned dorms to tents, turned into ovens by the merciless Texas' heat. Many of the trainees have never slept outdoors. They face the wrath of fire ants, wasps, rattlesnakes, and training instructors barking orders at decibel rattling levels.
Barrel-chested Master Sergeant Robert Hembree hovers over trainees as they belly crawl like alligators for two-hundred yards beneath simulated gun fire and razor wire. Hembree is the picture of perfection in neatly pressed and creased fatigues, spit polished combat boots, a Smokey-the-Bear style campaign hat shading his eyes, and not a single bead of sweat in sight. He towers over grunting and groaning trainees, their faces caked with sand and sweat. Some are harshly reminded not to stick the muzzle in the sand and not to point the M-16 at their buddy or "wingman" crawling beside them. Hembree pounces when a trainee falls back, "Don't quit" No pain! No pain! Don't forget your wingman!" A trainee grabs the straggler by the back of his collar and begins dragging him forward. "A lot of the stuff we do focuses on leadership abilities and teamwork. You've got to have the team work where somebody falls, the other one has to pick it up. You have to be able to recover and help your teammate. Leave no man behind," says Hembree.
The new basic training prepares airmen for the realities of an Air Expeditionary Force by sending a message that you are either deployed or preparing to deploy. Trainees saddled with sixty-pound duffel bags go through a mock mobility line. Training instructors bark out the list of required contents such as the prescribed three pairs of wool socks. When a trainee fumbles his bag because of missing items an instructor strikes, "Stop! Stop! You are not having a very good day! You think and then you do! Understand? Fix it!" The drills are meant to put the trainees under stress in a controlled situation.
The trainees watch a videotaped deployment briefing that tells them about their upcoming mission; they board buses; get issued combat gear, M-16s, MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), just as if they were headed overseas. Twenty-year old trainee Erica Grotty of Portland who is the mother of a fifteen-month-old daughter says, "It was very frightening at first, the idea that I would most likely be deployed. But every day that I'm here I'm learning so many skills. It's just making me feel a lot more comfortable about going and having the confidence that when I come back I will walk off that plane."
The Air Force plans to add two weeks to its basic military training by October 2007. It would allow more time for warrior skills and to teach battlefield first aid. It's waiting on Congress to approve twenty-five million dollars for more facilities, including firing ranges.
On another corner of the sprawling base, seven hundred trainees in dress uniforms smartly march in formation for their coining ceremony. The ceremony marks the transition from trainee to airmen. Senior Master Sergeant Larry Hetrick, a twenty-two-year veteran and training instructor, proudly presents a coin to his twenty-one-year-old son Albert. The core values of the Air Force are cast on the coin: integrity first; service before self'; and excellence in all we do. Colonel Grasso stresses to new trainees on the first day that the profession of arms must live by those core values
Back in the field, trainees take a brief break from combat training that started before dawn. With machine-gun speed, Staff Sergeant Jason Bowman rattles off challenges to his trainees, "You're tired right now! You're feeling it right now! Now that you are out of breath! Now that you are hot! Now that you are sweaty! Now that you are tired! Can you do it now?" The trainees shout their reply in unison, "Yes sir!” Their response exemplifies the warrior spirit that the Air Force expects to help keep its airmen alive on the frontlines.
(CBS 11 News)
bark collar: Ruffles for Rover, finery for Fido
Jun. 8, 2006. 01:00 AM
THE ITEM: Puppy blanket and dress by FouFou.
THE COST: Blanket, $40 on sale from $65; dress, $25 on sale from $40.
WHERE TO BUY: Get the deep discount only at Woofstock, June 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. Admission to the show is free. For more information, see http://www.woofstock.ca.
It's time to bust out Princess's summer wardrobe for Woofstock, the year's biggest fashion event for prettified pups.
The annual outdoor dog show has moved to a bigger location to make room for massive canine crowds and their owners. This year, as many as 40,000 people and their pups are expected to descend on the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood.
In addition to fun contests and pageants, a big part of the reason to go to Woofstock is the shopping. About 160 companies will display and sell the latest in food, fashion, furnishings and services for your pooch.
If Princess needs a fab new frock before her big appearance in the Stupid Dog Trick contest, stop by the FouFou booth (on Front St. between Jarvis and Church Sts.) to see glam fashions by local designer Cheryl Ng. All the sweet summer gear will be priced 30 to 50 per cent less than retail.
Since Ng launched her line of clothing, accessories and jewellery for fancy fidos at Woofstock last year, FouFou has become wildly popular in Canada and the U.S., and will soon be available in Europe. It got the important celebrity thumbs up from Eva Longoria, who ordered a personalized doggie collar for her the
It all stemmed from an obsession with the most famous dog-toting celebrity of all, Paris Hilton.
"I was a big fan of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie," says Ng, 27. "I started dressing my dog Ernie — he's a white Maltese. I picked up this dog because I was really into the toy dog craze," she says.
At first, she was shopping at mainstream pet supply and department stores for pretty puppy wear, but couldn't find what she was looking for in Canada.
"I thought, why don't I come out with a Canadian designer doggie line?"
Teaming up with her sister Jenn and her friend Evelyn Yu, Ng set to work designing a collection based on the latest fashion trends for humans.
This summer, casual tees and tanks have been hot sellers, she says.
"We go for the everyday things that dogs can wear every day," says Ng. "A lot of the products out there now are so costume-y and fancy. I'm thinking that's a fad. We're going with traditional everyday wear, tank tops with no screen print, no flashy stuff. It's for every dog, not just the fancy dog."
FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: If Woofstock isn't your thing, buy Foufou directly at http://www.foufoudog.com and at Bark & Fitz (http://www.bankandfitz.com) stores across Canada.
THE ITEM: Puppy blanket and dress by FouFou.
THE COST: Blanket, $40 on sale from $65; dress, $25 on sale from $40.
WHERE TO BUY: Get the deep discount only at Woofstock, June 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. Admission to the show is free. For more information, see http://www.woofstock.ca.
It's time to bust out Princess's summer wardrobe for Woofstock, the year's biggest fashion event for prettified pups.
The annual outdoor dog show has moved to a bigger location to make room for massive canine crowds and their owners. This year, as many as 40,000 people and their pups are expected to descend on the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood.
In addition to fun contests and pageants, a big part of the reason to go to Woofstock is the shopping. About 160 companies will display and sell the latest in food, fashion, furnishings and services for your pooch.
If Princess needs a fab new frock before her big appearance in the Stupid Dog Trick contest, stop by the FouFou booth (on Front St. between Jarvis and Church Sts.) to see glam fashions by local designer Cheryl Ng. All the sweet summer gear will be priced 30 to 50 per cent less than retail.
Since Ng launched her line of clothing, accessories and jewellery for fancy fidos at Woofstock last year, FouFou has become wildly popular in Canada and the U.S., and will soon be available in Europe. It got the important celebrity thumbs up from Eva Longoria, who ordered a personalized doggie collar for her the
It all stemmed from an obsession with the most famous dog-toting celebrity of all, Paris Hilton.
"I was a big fan of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie," says Ng, 27. "I started dressing my dog Ernie — he's a white Maltese. I picked up this dog because I was really into the toy dog craze," she says.
At first, she was shopping at mainstream pet supply and department stores for pretty puppy wear, but couldn't find what she was looking for in Canada.
"I thought, why don't I come out with a Canadian designer doggie line?"
Teaming up with her sister Jenn and her friend Evelyn Yu, Ng set to work designing a collection based on the latest fashion trends for humans.
This summer, casual tees and tanks have been hot sellers, she says.
"We go for the everyday things that dogs can wear every day," says Ng. "A lot of the products out there now are so costume-y and fancy. I'm thinking that's a fad. We're going with traditional everyday wear, tank tops with no screen print, no flashy stuff. It's for every dog, not just the fancy dog."
FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: If Woofstock isn't your thing, buy Foufou directly at http://www.foufoudog.com and at Bark & Fitz (http://www.bankandfitz.com) stores across Canada.
bark collar: Hot under the collar
By Paul Dunlop
8th June 2006 10:37:59 AM
Pakenham woman Sheree Deane, with her six-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier Dozer, would like to see an off-leash park for Pakenham pooches. Picture: Stewart Chambers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOG lovers are calling for an off-leash park in Pakenham, saying there is nowhere in the area where they can exercise their pets without breaking the law.
State regulations require all dog owners to keep dogs on a leash when outside their own property.
Owners of dogs left uncontrolled in public areas face hefty fines.
Authorities said the stance is in the interests of community safety because many dog attacks could have been prevented had the animal been on a leash.
Pakenham resident Sheree Deane said having an off-leash park would mean dog owners, particular those with bigger dogs, could let their pets get the workout they needed without presenting a safety risk to people.
“I have been living there for three years and I can’t believe there isn’t an off-leash park,” she said.
“So many people have dogs, but there is nowhere to take them.
“People worry about dogs being aggressive, but that is often because they are not properly socialised.
“Dogs bark because they don’t get enough exercise. If there was a secure and safe place where you could throw a ball and let the dog play with other dogs, it will wear itself out and won’t be any trouble.”
Pakenham resident Lillian Keogh said she would love to see an off-leash park in the town. She said the facility would be well used.
Ms Deane takes her six-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier, Dozer, into inner Melbourne, where she said there were plenty of pooch-friendly parks.
“We went to a park at Brighton and he had a ball. It wouldn’t take a lot to build one, just a fenced off area in an existing park that’s not used much,” she said.
Cardinia Shire manager of governance and communications, Doug Evans, said the council had considered creating designated off-leash areas a few years ago, but had not pursued the initiative.
The main problem was finding an appropriate location, he said.
“The area needs to be effectively fenced, it needs to be out of the way yet accessible, and you need to make sure it is not in close proximity to a school, and there needs to be dog toilets.
“Finding shire-owned land that meets all the criteria is not an easy task and council found at the time that there was not a huge demand for those areas.
“But if the demand grows as Pakenham and the surrounding area grows, then council would certainly look at it,” Mr Evans said.
Ms Deane said something needed to be done, and she was considering starting a petition.
• What’s your view about off-leash dog parks? Email the News at editor@starnews group.com.au or phone 5941 2666.
8th June 2006 10:37:59 AM
Pakenham woman Sheree Deane, with her six-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier Dozer, would like to see an off-leash park for Pakenham pooches. Picture: Stewart Chambers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOG lovers are calling for an off-leash park in Pakenham, saying there is nowhere in the area where they can exercise their pets without breaking the law.
State regulations require all dog owners to keep dogs on a leash when outside their own property.
Owners of dogs left uncontrolled in public areas face hefty fines.
Authorities said the stance is in the interests of community safety because many dog attacks could have been prevented had the animal been on a leash.
Pakenham resident Sheree Deane said having an off-leash park would mean dog owners, particular those with bigger dogs, could let their pets get the workout they needed without presenting a safety risk to people.
“I have been living there for three years and I can’t believe there isn’t an off-leash park,” she said.
“So many people have dogs, but there is nowhere to take them.
“People worry about dogs being aggressive, but that is often because they are not properly socialised.
“Dogs bark because they don’t get enough exercise. If there was a secure and safe place where you could throw a ball and let the dog play with other dogs, it will wear itself out and won’t be any trouble.”
Pakenham resident Lillian Keogh said she would love to see an off-leash park in the town. She said the facility would be well used.
Ms Deane takes her six-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier, Dozer, into inner Melbourne, where she said there were plenty of pooch-friendly parks.
“We went to a park at Brighton and he had a ball. It wouldn’t take a lot to build one, just a fenced off area in an existing park that’s not used much,” she said.
Cardinia Shire manager of governance and communications, Doug Evans, said the council had considered creating designated off-leash areas a few years ago, but had not pursued the initiative.
The main problem was finding an appropriate location, he said.
“The area needs to be effectively fenced, it needs to be out of the way yet accessible, and you need to make sure it is not in close proximity to a school, and there needs to be dog toilets.
“Finding shire-owned land that meets all the criteria is not an easy task and council found at the time that there was not a huge demand for those areas.
“But if the demand grows as Pakenham and the surrounding area grows, then council would certainly look at it,” Mr Evans said.
Ms Deane said something needed to be done, and she was considering starting a petition.
• What’s your view about off-leash dog parks? Email the News at editor@starnews group.com.au or phone 5941 2666.
bark collar: Meanwhile: After the plague
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2006
AUSTERLITZ, New York On the ground was a young woodchuck. It lay on its back, feet spread evenly as if for dissection, fur still lustrous, bright curving teeth. There was also a profound hole at the base of its neck and a collar of blood. Behind me in a birch tree stood the vulture that had flushed when I came around the corner. It seemed to be trying to stand on one leg with its wings raised, tipping side to side almost the way a vulture does in flight. A pair of crows complained from a higher branch. I had nothing to add.
What was interesting wasn't the dead woodchuck. It would have eaten my beans later this summer. What was interesting was seeing the vulture come out of its column of flight and make a long, curving landing behind the barn. I knew there was something dead in the grass only because of the vulture's hunching presence. Death to me is still a curiosity, even after all this time here. To the vulture it is simply a way of getting a living.
There was nothing mournful in any of this, and cruelty isn't really a word worth using when talking about nature. The death of that woodchuck seemed economical, considering what was happening on the rest of the place. The forest tent caterpillars have made their way up into the canopy of the trees, and they have simply erased May. Where there were young leaves there are now nearly empty branches. The roses are bare, and so are the blueberries. The walk down to the barn is littered with precisely scissored leaf fragments, like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be assembled. A strange light makes its way down through the trees - not spring, not summer.
And yet some plants have gone untouched - the hydrangeas and a striped-bark maple. Perhaps there's something unpalatable in their leaves, just as there seems to be something unpalatable in the caterpillars themselves. Nothing wants to eat them. Their destruction lies in their own numbers, I suppose. I heard the electric fence snapping clear across the pasture the other night, grounding itself on a fallen tree limb, I thought. But no. The caterpillars had crawled up a neutral brace wire at the fence corner, so many caterpillars that the current leaped from the hot wire into the gob of them, sparking.
Verlyn Klinkenborg is a member of the New York Times editorial board.
AUSTERLITZ, New York On the ground was a young woodchuck. It lay on its back, feet spread evenly as if for dissection, fur still lustrous, bright curving teeth. There was also a profound hole at the base of its neck and a collar of blood. Behind me in a birch tree stood the vulture that had flushed when I came around the corner. It seemed to be trying to stand on one leg with its wings raised, tipping side to side almost the way a vulture does in flight. A pair of crows complained from a higher branch. I had nothing to add.
What was interesting wasn't the dead woodchuck. It would have eaten my beans later this summer. What was interesting was seeing the vulture come out of its column of flight and make a long, curving landing behind the barn. I knew there was something dead in the grass only because of the vulture's hunching presence. Death to me is still a curiosity, even after all this time here. To the vulture it is simply a way of getting a living.
There was nothing mournful in any of this, and cruelty isn't really a word worth using when talking about nature. The death of that woodchuck seemed economical, considering what was happening on the rest of the place. The forest tent caterpillars have made their way up into the canopy of the trees, and they have simply erased May. Where there were young leaves there are now nearly empty branches. The roses are bare, and so are the blueberries. The walk down to the barn is littered with precisely scissored leaf fragments, like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be assembled. A strange light makes its way down through the trees - not spring, not summer.
And yet some plants have gone untouched - the hydrangeas and a striped-bark maple. Perhaps there's something unpalatable in their leaves, just as there seems to be something unpalatable in the caterpillars themselves. Nothing wants to eat them. Their destruction lies in their own numbers, I suppose. I heard the electric fence snapping clear across the pasture the other night, grounding itself on a fallen tree limb, I thought. But no. The caterpillars had crawled up a neutral brace wire at the fence corner, so many caterpillars that the current leaped from the hot wire into the gob of them, sparking.
Verlyn Klinkenborg is a member of the New York Times editorial board.
AUSTERLITZ, New York On the ground was a young woodchuck. It lay on its back, feet spread evenly as if for dissection, fur still lustrous, bright curving teeth. There was also a profound hole at the base of its neck and a collar of blood. Behind me in a birch tree stood the vulture that had flushed when I came around the corner. It seemed to be trying to stand on one leg with its wings raised, tipping side to side almost the way a vulture does in flight. A pair of crows complained from a higher branch. I had nothing to add.
What was interesting wasn't the dead woodchuck. It would have eaten my beans later this summer. What was interesting was seeing the vulture come out of its column of flight and make a long, curving landing behind the barn. I knew there was something dead in the grass only because of the vulture's hunching presence. Death to me is still a curiosity, even after all this time here. To the vulture it is simply a way of getting a living.
There was nothing mournful in any of this, and cruelty isn't really a word worth using when talking about nature. The death of that woodchuck seemed economical, considering what was happening on the rest of the place. The forest tent caterpillars have made their way up into the canopy of the trees, and they have simply erased May. Where there were young leaves there are now nearly empty branches. The roses are bare, and so are the blueberries. The walk down to the barn is littered with precisely scissored leaf fragments, like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be assembled. A strange light makes its way down through the trees - not spring, not summer.
And yet some plants have gone untouched - the hydrangeas and a striped-bark maple. Perhaps there's something unpalatable in their leaves, just as there seems to be something unpalatable in the caterpillars themselves. Nothing wants to eat them. Their destruction lies in their own numbers, I suppose. I heard the electric fence snapping clear across the pasture the other night, grounding itself on a fallen tree limb, I thought. But no. The caterpillars had crawled up a neutral brace wire at the fence corner, so many caterpillars that the current leaped from the hot wire into the gob of them, sparking.
Verlyn Klinkenborg is a member of the New York Times editorial board.
AUSTERLITZ, New York On the ground was a young woodchuck. It lay on its back, feet spread evenly as if for dissection, fur still lustrous, bright curving teeth. There was also a profound hole at the base of its neck and a collar of blood. Behind me in a birch tree stood the vulture that had flushed when I came around the corner. It seemed to be trying to stand on one leg with its wings raised, tipping side to side almost the way a vulture does in flight. A pair of crows complained from a higher branch. I had nothing to add.
What was interesting wasn't the dead woodchuck. It would have eaten my beans later this summer. What was interesting was seeing the vulture come out of its column of flight and make a long, curving landing behind the barn. I knew there was something dead in the grass only because of the vulture's hunching presence. Death to me is still a curiosity, even after all this time here. To the vulture it is simply a way of getting a living.
There was nothing mournful in any of this, and cruelty isn't really a word worth using when talking about nature. The death of that woodchuck seemed economical, considering what was happening on the rest of the place. The forest tent caterpillars have made their way up into the canopy of the trees, and they have simply erased May. Where there were young leaves there are now nearly empty branches. The roses are bare, and so are the blueberries. The walk down to the barn is littered with precisely scissored leaf fragments, like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be assembled. A strange light makes its way down through the trees - not spring, not summer.
And yet some plants have gone untouched - the hydrangeas and a striped-bark maple. Perhaps there's something unpalatable in their leaves, just as there seems to be something unpalatable in the caterpillars themselves. Nothing wants to eat them. Their destruction lies in their own numbers, I suppose. I heard the electric fence snapping clear across the pasture the other night, grounding itself on a fallen tree limb, I thought. But no. The caterpillars had crawled up a neutral brace wire at the fence corner, so many caterpillars that the current leaped from the hot wire into the gob of them, sparking.
Verlyn Klinkenborg is a member of the New York Times editorial board.
bark collar: Navman iCN 720 route planning
Paul Allen, Computeract!ve 06 Jun 2006
ADVERTISEMENTThe iCN 720 has a photographic memory for places, aided by the 1.3megapixel camera mounted on the front and its NavPix software.
The idea is that you can take a quick snap of any location and the device logs its GPS coordinates. To revisit, just open the picture menu and select the image of the location to plot your course.
It's a simple way of storing favourite locations. Navman hopes to build an online community of beauty spot sharers, as you can upload images with their coordinates embedded in the file for others to download and navigate to.
Images can be downloaded to a PC using the supplied USB cable or a memory card, but were of poor quality and definitely not what you'd want to print out for posterity.
Finding locations using an address proved tricky in areas where town boundary entries had changed, with the device insisting that some towns with London postcodes were still in Essex. However, using full eight-digit postcode searches proved more effective.
One of the key selling points of satellite navigation devices is their ability to recalculate routes should the driver divert or miss a turn. We ignored every turn instruction from the iCN 720 near a busy junction and were impressed with the speed at which it recalculated.
Some sat-nav devices merely bark out an instruction to perform a U-turn and adhere to its original route, but the iCN 720 worked out the next best route within about five seconds of each wrong turn.
Spoken instructions were prompt and the screen was clear. We found it easier to use a pen to input addresses on the landscape-orientated 4in screen rather than use the small touch-sensitive keys. All the usual amenities and places of interest, such as petrol stations, can be highlighted on route.
The windscreen-mounted bracket felt rickety, and we had to tighten the screw-collar until it creaked to stop the device rattling as we drove through bumpy streets.The suction cup presses onto the screen or dash, and seemed insecure compared with the lever-locked suction pad of the Tom Tom range, but the device stayed in place as we drove over potholes.
We were a little disappointed that the iCN 720 struggled to make itself heard against the noise of traffic and rushing wind when the car window was open.
A separate traffic pack can be downloaded from the Navman website containing location information on speed cameras and live updates of traffic and accident reports for £129.
The iCN 720 is a competent GPS device and will direct you within a few feet of your destination. The NavPix feature may appeal to some, but the gimmick could soon wear off, especially at this price.
Related Reviews
Tom Tom One
Verdict: No camera but with good sound and a straightforward interface, the Tom Tom One is almost everything a navigation system should be
Rating: 4/5
Price: £280
ADVERTISEMENTThe iCN 720 has a photographic memory for places, aided by the 1.3megapixel camera mounted on the front and its NavPix software.
The idea is that you can take a quick snap of any location and the device logs its GPS coordinates. To revisit, just open the picture menu and select the image of the location to plot your course.
It's a simple way of storing favourite locations. Navman hopes to build an online community of beauty spot sharers, as you can upload images with their coordinates embedded in the file for others to download and navigate to.
Images can be downloaded to a PC using the supplied USB cable or a memory card, but were of poor quality and definitely not what you'd want to print out for posterity.
Finding locations using an address proved tricky in areas where town boundary entries had changed, with the device insisting that some towns with London postcodes were still in Essex. However, using full eight-digit postcode searches proved more effective.
One of the key selling points of satellite navigation devices is their ability to recalculate routes should the driver divert or miss a turn. We ignored every turn instruction from the iCN 720 near a busy junction and were impressed with the speed at which it recalculated.
Some sat-nav devices merely bark out an instruction to perform a U-turn and adhere to its original route, but the iCN 720 worked out the next best route within about five seconds of each wrong turn.
Spoken instructions were prompt and the screen was clear. We found it easier to use a pen to input addresses on the landscape-orientated 4in screen rather than use the small touch-sensitive keys. All the usual amenities and places of interest, such as petrol stations, can be highlighted on route.
The windscreen-mounted bracket felt rickety, and we had to tighten the screw-collar until it creaked to stop the device rattling as we drove through bumpy streets.The suction cup presses onto the screen or dash, and seemed insecure compared with the lever-locked suction pad of the Tom Tom range, but the device stayed in place as we drove over potholes.
We were a little disappointed that the iCN 720 struggled to make itself heard against the noise of traffic and rushing wind when the car window was open.
A separate traffic pack can be downloaded from the Navman website containing location information on speed cameras and live updates of traffic and accident reports for £129.
The iCN 720 is a competent GPS device and will direct you within a few feet of your destination. The NavPix feature may appeal to some, but the gimmick could soon wear off, especially at this price.
Related Reviews
Tom Tom One
Verdict: No camera but with good sound and a straightforward interface, the Tom Tom One is almost everything a navigation system should be
Rating: 4/5
Price: £280
